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May 23, 2017

Stamps eying new challenge

Head coach Dave Dickenson during the 2016 Labour Day Rematch (Photo by David Moll)

In the years ahead, it’ll be viewed as an unfinished masterpiece.

One of those magnificent, incomplete muscular torsos meticulously chiseled out of Carrara-quarried marble by Michelangelo, say.

Or a sketch by a post-impressionist master intended as a museum-worthy oil that, for whatever reason, never quite made it to full vibrancy on canvas.

Wonderful to look at. Memorable to reflect on.

But not complete.

“It was a little tough right away but, you know, life goes on,’’ Stampeders’ head coach Dave Dickenson is saying, during his pre-training camp availability on Tuesday. “Was it hard to deal with? Yeah. Initially.

“But life doesn’t just stop so you can be mad or feel sorry for yourself.

“You can’t look back. You’ve got to look ahead of you.

“That’s the great thing about sports, right? You re-charge, re-load and take another shot at it the next season.”

QB Bo Levi Mitchell after the 2016 Grey Cup loss against the RedBlacks (Photo by CP Images/Peter Power)

That gravity-defying 15-2-1 CFL regular-season balloon punctured by a 39-33 overtime loss at Toronto’s BMO Field Grey Cup Sunday, Nov. 27.

With a brief rookie camp slated to open Wednesday and main camp on Sunday, the Stamps are full steam ahead to begin their 2017 quest for the Cup.

Given the way things played out last year, the Unfinished Business theme certainly does apply here but Dickenson himself isn’t buying into any revenge-as-fuel angle.

“As a coach, that’s not going to be a focal point at all for this team,’’ he assures one and all. “We’re a good team. We like our core group.

“I think stability is key for any franchise.

“I don’t need to talk about (the loss).

“Everyone’s gonna draw motivation from different sources. But I don’t really feel like any sort of redemption or anything like that has anything to do with it.

“New team.

“New challenges.

“Tough job ahead of us.

“People are certainly gunning for Ottawa, too. They’re the Grey Cup champs. But when one of the best coaches out there, one of the best ever, Wally Buono, is saying everyone’s trying to catch up to the Calgary Stampeders, you know you may not have won that last game but you’re still in the crosshairs.

“And guess what? It’s been that way forever.”

From the outside, the loss of Outstanding Offensive Lineman Derek Dennis aside, the Stamps’ lineup resembles that of the ’27 NY Yankees, famously dubbed Murderers’ Row.

They seem loaded, everywhere.

Running back Jerome Messam during a Sept. 24, 2016, game against Winnipeg (Photo by David Moll)

 

For starters, there’s reigning MOP Bo Levi Mitchell manning the rudder. Leading rusher/top Canadian Jerome Messam lugging the rock. An offence that scored the most points. A defence that allowed the fewest. A punter, Rob Maver, with a touch so sublime he could nestle a football in a tin lunch box from 45 yards away. Rene Paredes, the Matador, handling the placekicking chores again.

Still, the coach foresees pitched battles shaping up on both offensive and defensive lines, at the receiver position and for the back-up quarterbacking slot.

“It’s important that we understand not one thing will be given to our team,’’ he emphasizes. “Just because we had some success last year, a great season, doesn’t mean anything now.

“We always feel people are always gunning for us.

“Look in the mirror. That’s the competition – Yourself. Because if you can get the best out of you …

“Cliche? Sure. But it’s true, nevertheless. I agree we have good vets. But I’m not going to give anyone too much benefit of the doubt. Meaning if it’s even, yeah, you win – you’re a vet.

“But if you get beat out, you get beat out.”

Small smile.

“I do expect Bo to be our starting quarterback, though.”

Seriously, though …

“You’ve got to compete. Don’t come if you’re not in the mood to compete. I don’t like this, when you decide your roster before you get out on the practice field.

“I don’t think that’s fair.

“I don’t think that’s the way you build your roster.

“The guys who are the best players enjoy competition. I know Marquay McDaniel loves to compete. You don’t ever not want to take a rep.

“Those are the guys I like.”

Marquay McDaniel and Bo Levi Mitchell during a game in Winnipeg on July 21, 2016 (Photo by Canadian Press//John Woods)

On Sunday, it all begins anew, again. If not from scratch, exactly, then from the same start line.

“This year,’’ says the boss, “the focus is on not being overconfident; understanding that in professional sports everyone is really good.

“Look at the West. I think Sask is the team that improved the most over the off-season and everyone else had double-digit wins last year. So it’s going to be tight, it’s going to be tough.

“Things change. Everything, that is, but the goal: that always remains the same.”

To finish the masterpiece.

“Hey, I’m just excited to get back out there,’’ says Dickenson. “The weather is good. The grass is green.

“It’s football season again.

“So let’s do it.”